The present technology disclosed in this specification relates to a robot device, which communicates with humans and the like (including adults, children, and pets) within a home environment, a method of controlling the same, and a program for controlling the same, and more particularly to a robot device, which takes appropriate safety measures for humans and the like, a method of controlling the same, and a program for controlling the same.
Demands for mechatronic devices such as household robots designed to do household chores, care, or the like for humans are increasing. These robots communicate with the humans and the like (including adults, children, and pets) within home environments. In the future, the robots are predicted to be deeply rooted in dwelling spaces of humans. In combination with this, there is an urgent need to secure the safety of robots that operate in the dwelling spaces.
In the case of industrial robots, general practice is to completely prevent contact with humans and secure the safety by installing barriers on the outsides of work areas corresponding to all movable ranges of the robots. Further, a sensor, which detects the entry of a human and the like, may be installed in a barrier and safety measures may be taken to cause the robot to be in an emergency stop state when entry has been sensed.
On the other hand, in the case of household robots, if a barrier is installed on the outside of a work area, a movable range would be the entire living room, and thus humans would be unable to live in a living room. In addition, it is difficult to surround all work areas with barriers because the household robots work in physical contact with the humans.
In addition, the industrial robot is designed so that the human does not approach the robot by causing a warning sound or a warning lamp to constantly operate during movement. For example, an industrial robot, which generates a warning sound according to a manipulator-selected speed, has been proposed (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-63882). Alternatively, safety measures may be taken by performing an emergency stop when a human or obstacle approaches within a predetermined distance by installing a distance sensor, which senses the human or obstacle, in the robot.
However, if the household robot constantly operates the warning sound or the warning lamp regardless of a degree of interference to a task of the robot, a user may not live calmly due to noisiness in the same environment. In addition, it is difficult to implement tasks such as household chores or care according to physical contact if the emergency stop is performed when a human or obstacle approaches within a predetermined distance.